The Invisible (PG-13)

Director David S. Goyer has made a fortune with his overrated Batman and Blade screenplays, which milked the brooding loner shtick for all it's worth. But when he applies his template to a high-schooler rather than a superhero, it doesn't work. Apparently based on a Swedish novel and film -- though it might just as easily be considered a remake of Just Like Heaven without the humor -- The Invisible centers on golden-boy Nick Powell (Justin Chatwin, of the similarly annoying The Chumscrubber). Nick may be an honor student, but he's been emotionally numb since the death of his father. When he inadvertently finds himself drawn into a conflict with the delinquent Annie (Margarita Levieva), things go drastically wrong, and she ends up beating him to death . . . or does she? Awakening as an invisible, disembodied spirit, Nick must discover whether he's a ghost or merely out-of-body. It's all, y'know, such a deep metaphor for alienation, man, especially since nobody truly "sees" Annie for who she really is either. And yes, you are supposed to take this all extremely seriously; it probably sounded layered and complex when the writers were stoned.